Vingt Ans de Cyclisme Pratique
Cite this book
Citation
H.-O. Duncan. Vingt Ans de Cyclisme Pratique. 1897. cyclearchive.com, https://cyclearchive.com/books/vingt-ans-de-cyclisme-pratique-h-duncan-1897/
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Contents
- Duncan's autobiographical introduction traces his own racing career from 1877 to 1887, including his 1886 French sprint championship at Agen (beating de Civry, Médinger, Charles Terront, Eole, Boyer, Charron, Vidal, Dubois, Henri Loste and Wick), three consecutive world 50-mile titles at Leicester, his nine years (1887-1896) managing champions Charles Terront, Henri Fournier, Meyer, Edwards and Farman, and his founding of the papers Le Véloceman and La Bicyclette and building of the cement-surfaced Vélodrome Buffalo. It also recounts his 'ciment ou bois' track-surface dispute with George Lacy Hillier in the Sportsman and Sporting Life, and his directing of Charles Terront's Paris-Brest-Paris ride and Saint-Petersburg-Paris record.
- Sets out the physical and mental qualities of a good racer, build, weight, courage, judgement, illustrated by Arthur Zimmerman's tactically coached win over Edwards in Paris and by Frédéric de Civry, dismissed by Bicycling Times as 'not built for racing' yet who became a top-class champion. Cites Huret, Stéphane, Cottereau, Mills, Holbein, Corre and Charles Terront as models of endurance for events like Saint-Petersburg-Paris and Bordeaux-Paris, and discusses how France's compulsory military service handicaps young riders against foreign rivals.
- Covers preliminary preparation for training: choosing a suitable age and sound constitution, the need for a doctor's examination of heart and lungs before starting, comparisons with the strongman Sandow's regularity, and practical hygiene advice on purgatives, castor oil, hot and cold baths and giving up tobacco.
- Advises the novice racer on choosing a first-class machine, pneumatic tyres, spare wheels, gearing, a single saddle, toe-clips and handlebar position as favoured by American riders, and on racing costume, surveying eccentric national styles from German medal-covered jerseys and Russian riders' jockey costumes to Australian silk jerseys and Union Jack colours.
- A detailed dietary chapter on what a racer should eat and drink and what to avoid, regular mealtimes from an 8 o'clock breakfast, black coffee over tea, caution with alcohol and champagne, hot milk, Bordeaux wine and mineral water, and avoiding indigestible foods such as pork in favour of recommended meats.
- Lays out the racer's active daily training schedule across morning, afternoon and evening, rising times by season, road and track work, skipping-rope and dancing, then turns to final race preparation, illustrated by a Belgian champion who trained alone and by Edwards' habit of racing with a toothpick in his mouth to judge his pace.
- Guides the rider through race day itself, the pre-race meal, staying calm and accompanied, an eau-de-Cologne rubdown, inspecting the machine before the start, and race tactics, citing Zimmerman, Banker and Wheeler, followed by post-race massage and recovery advice.
- Discusses winter track racing at indoor velodromes in Paris, Saint-Petersburg and Vienna and at London's Olympia, Aquarium and New York's Madison Square Garden, plus off-season training in the south of France and in America, naming Jimmy Michael, Zimmerman training at Savannah and Bald in the Carolinas.
- Recounts the first Bordeaux-Paris road race of 23 May 1891, an amateur event later opened to professionals as the 'Derby de la route', following the training, tactics and eventual victory of George Pilkington Mills over rival Holbein, including Mills's diet, his pacemaking arrangements and his post-race recovery.
- Condemns ultra-distance racing as mere endurance spectacle, describing the six-day walking race at Madison Square Garden won by the Englishman Teddy Hale over the American Rice and the black competitor Taylor, the Agricultural Hall six-day race featuring George Waller, Charles Terront and Grenouillard, and Terront's Paris-Brest ride and match against Corre.
- Examines the growing use of pacemaking teams, including Huret's squads and electrically- and petrol-powered pacing machines, debating their safety with correspondent Lacy Hillier, and describing Rivière's Bordeaux-Paris win paced by automobile from Tours, plus the Pingault tandem and Darracq triplette pacing machines.
- Profiles the new professional class of managers, trainers and masseurs, including Zimmerman's manager Troy, Wheeler and Banker, Tom Eck, Choppy Warburton, Joe Broughton, the father-and-son Bardens, Charles Wilson, Harry Andrews, Harry Leeming and Bob Patrick, with anecdotes about riders' idiosyncrasies such as Corre's taste for fried onions and de Civry's fondness for champagne.
- Covers women racers appearing at London's Olympia and Aquarium, citing the opinions of Miss Pattison and Mlle Eglée on sleep, rest and diet, and arguing that female competitors should follow the same training regime as men.
- Offers general advice to lady cyclists on riding for pleasure and health, moderation, avoiding heat, skirts versus culottes, celebrity opinions from the stage, and lightweight machines, and recommends Parisian riding grounds including the Bois de Boulogne, the Chalet du Cycle and the Bois de Vincennes.
- A medical chapter contributed by Dr Oscar Jennings on cycling's physiological effects, the heart, respiration, legs, blood and muscle, with case histories including an invalid's unexpected cure, a heart patient of Dr Herschell, and the recovery of a tuberculosis sufferer, plus a section on cycling for women.
- Surveys sports connected to cycling: a letter from the strongman Eugène Sandow (via his manager Warwick Brookes) describing his own training, cyclist-skaters, billiards, an interview with dentist J.-M. Marsh, jockeys' weight-reduction regimes, and a letter and short biography of Major Knox Holmes, timekeeper of a Crystal Palace hour-record attempt.